


the best part about valentine's day is the chocolates that go on sale once it's over

by kozumew



Category: Gintama
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29421903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kozumew/pseuds/kozumew
Summary: Valentine’s Day is a holiday for corporations to exploit lovey-dovey couples. Gintoki and Hijikata are by no means "a lovey-dovey couple" but somehow, they fall into the trap anyway.
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki
Comments: 13
Kudos: 88





	the best part about valentine's day is the chocolates that go on sale once it's over

**Author's Note:**

> i did not plan on writing anything for valentine's but was hit with sudden ginhiji feels (i say as if ginhiji brainrot isn't my natural state of being) and threw this together in a few hours so i hope it is coherent ;-; please enjoy <3

Gintoki sighs, taking in the mess in front of him. There’s a mountain of dishes in the sink, leftover ingredients scattered around the kitchen, and worst of all, smears of chocolate across the entire surface of the counter.

Still, the finished products are chilling in the fridge and after an entire morning of hard work, he lets himself relax a little. All that’s left to do is clean up the evidence before Kagura wakes up or Shinpachi comes by.

Unfortunately, he must be a bit more behind schedule than he thought because the kitchen suddenly becomes a lot more crowded.

“Gin-san, what are you doing up so early?” Shinpachi asks, surprised.

“I hope you were making breakfast. I’m hungry,” Kagura adds with a yawn, clearly having just woken up.

“There’s no food,” he says, trying to think of a way to get the kids out of the kitchen before they figure out what he was doing.

“I’m a growing girl! You can’t starve me!” Kagura protests, taking it upon herself to inspect the contents of the fridge for something to eat.

Gintoki panics, knowing exactly what the first thing she’ll see when she opens the door is. “Wait! Don’t!”

Kagura tilts her head in confusion, taking out the silicone mold filled with small little truffles that have now set. “What are these?” she asks, popping one into her mouth before even hearing the answer.

“Oi! Don’t eat those!”

Normally, she wouldn’t listen and would eat them all before Gintoki could get a word in, but these chocolates are a bit special. Kagura bites down and as soon as the filling spills out of the thin chocolate shell, she immediately spits it out.

“Ew! Water! I need water!” she screams, clutching her throat and coughing as if she just consumed poison.

Shinpachi is the one who kindly fetches her a glass of water as she dramatically rolls around on the ground.

“What did you even put in there?” he asks, watching with concern as Kagura downs the glass of water.

“Nothing special,” Gintoki says, trying to inconspicuously move to hide the view of the counter from Shinpachi’s field of vision.

Unfortunately, he notices and is able to catch a quick glimpse of what Gintoki is so desperately trying to hide. A familiar bottle with a signature red cap.

“Did you put mayonnaise in those chocolates?!”

“That’s pure evil, Gin-chan! How could you do that to the poor chocolate?” Kagura exclaims, having seemingly recovered enough to stand back up.

“Ahaha, I must have gotten it mixed up with the condensed milk. What a silly mistake!” he laughs awkwardly, though he knows no one will believe his poor excuse.

“They’re for Hijikata-san, aren’t they?” Shinpachi asks with a smile. He’d been surprisingly calm when Gintoki had first revealed his newfound feelings for the Shinsengumi vice-commander, saying that he’d seen it coming ages ago, though Gintoki didn’t see how that was possible when he himself had only just realized his feelings at that point.

But while his relationship with Hijikata is no secret, hasn’t been for quite a while now, for some reason, he still feels the need to hide it. “No, who would make chocolates for that bastard?” he denies.

“You’re not a very good liar, Gin-san.”

“Yeah and besides, there’s only one stupid mayora in this world who would actually like these disgusting chocolates,” Kagura adds.

“Oi! Don’t call them disgusting! I put a lot of work into those!”

Shinpachi glances around the kitchen and hums thoughtfully. “You really did, huh?”

Gintoki averts his gaze, not liking how easily the kids see through him. “Tch. It’s not like I had a choice. No reasonable establishment would sell something as ridiculous as this.”

Shinpachi decides not to point out the obvious fact that he easily could’ve just chosen not to make anything in the first place, that making chocolates from scratch to suit his lover’s bizarre tastes was very much a choice. Instead, he rolls his sleeves up and gets ready to take on the mess that is the current state of the kitchen. “I’ll help you clean up. Kagura-chan, you should wait in the living room until breakfast is done.”

With the promise of food, Kagura happily complies, skipping out of the kitchen to plop herself down on the couch.

Gintoki smiles at the sight, then turns to ruffle Shinpachi’s hair. “Thanks, Patsuan.”

* * *

Hijikata has never really paid attention to Valentine’s Day. He’d always thought it was a pointless holiday and he wouldn’t even have known it was approaching if not for the sudden changes around Edo. As soon as February came, pink and red decorations started popping up along the streets, an influx of heart-themed products flooded the shelves of all the stores, and a bunch of restaurants even started to announce special promotions for couples. No matter where he went, he just couldn’t escape it.

He’d been taking a break from work to quickly stop by the convenience store and pick up a new pack of cigarettes only for teddy bears holding hearts and cheesy messages to stare him down as he walked through the aisles. Hijikata wanted to get back to the barracks as soon as possible and was getting ready to make his purchase when a box at the checkout counter caught his eye.

Strawberry flavored chocolate _._ The brightly colored packaging reminds him of the kinds of sweets usually marketed towards children, making him think they’ll be cloyingly sweet. It seems like the kind of thing Gintoki would like.

“Will that be all?” the cashier asks.

Hijikata hesitates, eyeing the bright pink box topped with an obnoxiously large bow once more. If anyone at the barracks caught him with something like that, he’d never live it down. Still, he can’t help but remember the stupid smile on Gintoki’s face whenever he gets to eat sweets.

“Sir, you’re holding up the line,” the cashier says, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry,” he says, quickly throwing the box onto the counter before he can regret his decision.

It’s clear the cashier couldn't care less, but Hijikata can’t help the heat climbing up his cheeks. As soon as he pays, he grabs the bag and runs out the door without even taking his change, hoping that he can make it back to his room and hide the box away without running into anyone.

Luck doesn’t seem to be on his side though, because he runs into Kondou as soon as he steps inside the premises.

“Oh, Toushi!” he calls excitedly. “Whatcha got there?”

“I just went to buy another pack of cigarettes.”

“Ohh, is that so, Hijikata-san?” Sougo asks, appearing out of nowhere and starting to rummage through the bag before Hijikata can stop him. “I didn’t know they sold cigarettes in pink-heart shaped packaging with frilly ribbons.”

“Oi, Sougo! What the fuck do you think you’re doing!?”

“I was just about to get back to work unlike a certain unreliable person who was neglecting his responsibilities to buy gifts for his boyfriend. If you keep being careless like that, I might just steal your position” he says, walking away before Hijikata can get a word in.

“What did you say?!” Hijikata prepares to chase him down, when he feels a hand on his shoulder stop him.

“Good for you, Toushi,” Kondou says, a wide smile on his face.

Hijikata flushes, quickly averting his gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Alright, it’s decided!” he suddenly exclaims, confusing Hijikata. At his questioning look, Kondou continues, “You have the day off tomorrow! Go enjoy yourself!”

“W-what? Kondou-san, that really won’t be necessary.”

“Nonsense! At least one of us should get to enjoy Valentine’s Day and unfortunately, Otae-san declined all my invitations, so it has to be you!” he exclaims before more quietly musing to himself, “She must be terribly busy this year.”

“But—”

“No buts! It’s decided,” Kondou announces, before patting Hijikata on the back and turning to leave. “Go have fun! It’s an order!”

* * *

Gintoki stares at the box of finished chocolates once more before getting ready to head out. He admits they look a bit plain and he briefly considers piping some sort of message onto them, but he quickly decides against it. Hijikata would surely scoff at him if he tried anything that cheesy and just making chocolate from scratch is already pushing the limits a bit.

He knows Hijikata has never been particularly fond of sweets, but he hopes the mayo is enough to make him like them. If all else fails, he even has an extra bottle of mayo on hand to further drown the truffles in and though it pains him to see his beloved chocolates ruined like this, it’ll all be worth it as long as Hijikata likes them.

Of course, he has a more pressing issue, which is the fact that he doesn’t even know how to give them to him. For as long as they’ve been dating, Gintoki and Hijikata have generally stuck to spontaneous encounters over planned dates and for Gintoki to be the one to break that pattern, for Valentine’s Day of all things, was simply not an option.

Instead, he plans to head in the direction of the Shinsengumi barracks, hoping to miraculously meet Hijikata somewhere along the way so he can pretend it’s all just a coincidence that he’s in the area and that he just so happens to have custom made chocolates ready for him.

Much to his surprise though, he doesn’t have to travel very far before he runs into the very person he wants to see. In fact, it only takes three steps out the door.

“Hijikata? What are you doing here?” he asks, genuinely surprised that locating his boyfriend proved to be much easier task than he could have ever imagined.

Said boyfriend immediately flushes pink as he splutters out a response. “Kondou-san gave me the day off and I, um, figured I hadn’t stopped by for a while. There’s no other reason! I didn’t ask for the day off either, he forced it on me!”

Gintoki can’t help but smile, the urge to tease his adorably flustered boyfriend far too strong to resist. “Are you sure about that, Hijikata-kun? Some people might think that you specially requested today off for Valentine’s Day and then came all the way across the city to see your beloved boyfriend.”

“D-don’t be ridiculous! I told you that’s not it, are you stupid?”

“Aww, come on, Hijikata-kun. There’s no need to hide it,” he says, relishing in the way Hijikata only gets redder and redder with each passing second.

“I’m leaving,” he announces, suddenly turning away, but Gintoki catches his hand and pulls him back.

A strong tug brings Hijikata tumbling straight into his embrace and this time when Gintoki speaks, his tone is much softer. “Sorry for teasing you, but you’re just too cute when you’re flustered.”

“Stop saying stuff like that. It's gross. And let go of me, you bastard,” Hijikata says, but there’s no bite to his words and despite his protests, he shows no desire of being released, burying his head further into Gintoki’s shoulder.

“How about this? I was about to head out in search of some sweets and since you coincidentally happened to get time off, why don’t you come join me?”

“I guess that would be okay,” Hijikata mumbles.

That’s all the cue Gintoki needs to thread their hands together and lead his boyfriend through the streets of Kabukichou. He remembers seeing a café with a buy one get one free parfait deal for couples.

Hijikata follows him silently until they’re stood in front of the small shop, glancing warily at the tacky Valentine’s themed decorations that cover the storefront. “Oi, what is this place?”

“They make really good parfaits.”

“Aren’t they going a bit too overboard with all the hearts?”

Gintoki shrugs. “A good parfait is a good parfait.”

“Welcome,” one of the servers says, coming up to greet them. “We have a special deal going on right now. Are you two a couple, by any chance?”

“Yeah,” Gintoki answers casually at the same time Hijikata loudly shouts, “No!”

The server looks back and forth between them, confused. “Um, so are you not?”

Gintoki glares at Hijikata who looks away in embarrassment. He leans in to whisper into his ear, “Oi, I’m just trying to get a free parfait. Don’t blow this for me.” Gintoki drapes an arm around Hijikata’s shoulder as he turns back to the server. “Sorry, he’s a bit shy, but I assure you we _are_ a couple, so please tell us more about this deal.”

“Per café policy, I’m afraid you have to prove your relationship to make sure you’re not just lying to get the discount. A kiss will do.”

“Huh?” Hijikata exclaims. “What kind of stupid policy is that?”

Gintoki promptly hits him on the head. “Stop trying to sabotage my free parfait! A kiss isn’t even that big of a deal!”

“It’s fucking weird to randomly kiss in front of a complete stranger! Do you have a voyeurism kink or something, you perverted bastard?”

“Um, please stop fighting,” the server says, trying to calm them down.

“This is none of your business!” they both yell at her in complete unison.

“Who are you calling a perverted bastard when you’re the one who—”

Hijikata's eyes widen in realization at what Gintoki's referring to and hastily covers his mouth before he can say too much. “Don’t you know how to shut the fuck up?”

“No, I don’t! But I know how to shut _you_ up!”

“Yeah? I’d like to see you tr—”

Hijikata’s taunt gets cut off as Gintoki grabs his collar and pulls him in for a kiss. Despite their screaming match only seconds early, they both melt into the kiss, momentarily forgetting their surroundings.

Gintoki’s the one to come back to his sense first, pulling away, much to Hijikata’s disappointment. He turns to the server whose eyes are wide open in shock and says, “Is that good enough?”

“U-um, yes, please come this way.” Whether the server actually accepted that as satisfactory or was simply too scared by that exchange to deny them is unclear, but as long as he gets his parfaits, Gintoki doesn’t think it matters much.

As soon as it’s placed in front of him, Gintoki immediately digs in, practically inhaling the hard-earned dessert. He’s almost done when he looks up and realizes Hijikata hasn’t touched his own parfait.

“You’re not eating any?”

“You’re the one who wanted it anyway. Take it,” he says, pushing it toward him.

“As much as I would love to, my doctor said I can only one parfait per week.”

“Then, why the fuck did you care about getting two for one in the first place?”

“Because it was a good deal! You tax thieves have no regard for those of us who struggle to make ends meet.” He takes a bite out of the second parfait anyway.

“What happened to following the doctor’s orders?”

“I realized that a samurai should follow his own path.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Hijikata scoffs, but the smile on his face is fond.

“You sure you don’t want any?”

“Nah, you like this stuff way more than I do.”

While Gintoki would gladly finish the parfait by himself, he feels a little guilty for dragging Hijikata along with him under the guise of a date just for his selfish purposes. He fishes out the bottle of mayo he had brought along and, as much as it disgusts him, squeezes a large dollop of it onto the spoon.

“Where did you get that?”

“I obviously brought it for you, idiot. Now, say ‘ahhh.’”

“Who would do something that embarra—”

Gintoki shoves the spoon into his mouth unceremoniously before taking another, mayonnaise-free bite for himself, admiring the blush that once again spreads across his boyfriend’s face. It’s a sight that he’ll truly never get tired of.

Before long, the second parfait is finished and the two of them end up back at the Yorozuya. Gintoki lies sprawled out across the couch, head resting on Hijikata’s lap.

“How long are you gonna lay there for?”

“It’s comfortable.”

“That doesn’t answer my fucking question.”

“It’s not like you have work to do today. Are you that against spending time with me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

From this angle, Gintoki can see perfectly how Hijikata turns his head away in embarrassment and he chuckles. He wraps an arm around Hijikata’s neck and pulls himself upright. “I have something for you.”

He pulls out the chocolates, praying that they haven’t melted, and hands the small box to his boyfriend who looks at him in surprise.

“What’s this?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day, idiot. What else could it possibly be?”

He carefully opens the box to reveal the chocolates packed snuggly inside and Gintoki is pleased to see that they’re not at all cracked or misshapen from being jostled around all day. Impatient to see Hijikata’s reaction, he picks up one of the pieces and pops it straight into his boyfriend’s mouth.

Gintoki can see the exact moment Hijikata tastes the mayo because his eyes light up instantly. It’s a stark contrast from Kagura’s reaction when she accidentally tried one and he’s happy that this time, the chocolates have elicited the intended reaction.

“Where did you get these?”

Gintoki laughs. “What? They’re so good you wanted to buy more for yourself? Well, I’m afraid these are a limited edition Gin-san special.”

“You made these?”

“No one in their right mind would sell mayonnaise filled chocolates. Of course I made them.”

Hijikata stares at him for a long moment, before breaking eye contact completely and muttering, “T-they’re really good. Thanks.”

Gintoki catches a glimpse of an emotion he can’t quite decipher flash across Hijikata’s face, but the one thing he’s sure of is that it doesn’t seem to be one of happiness.

“You say that, but why are you making a face like that?”

Hijikata seems to shrink at his words. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s clearly not nothing. Just tell me.”

“I told you to drop it!”

“I made you mayo chocolates and now you can’t even look me in the eye! I’m not dropping it until you tell me why!”

“Because now how the fuck am I supposed to give you this, you idiot!” Hijikata shouts, throwing something at him.

“Ow!” Gintoki exclaims as whatever was thrown smacks him right in the face. Once he recovers slightly, he looks to the ground for the weapon used to hit him, but is surprised to find a bright pink, heart-shaped box instead.

“Strawberry chocolates?” he reads off the box. “You bought these for me?”

“I just happened to see them at the convenience store and thought you might like them. If I knew you were gonna make stuff, I would’ve gotten something better,” Hijikata says, staring downwards, dejected.

“No, these are perfect,” Gintoki says, reaching a hand over to lift his chin up. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

“I—of course I—we’re dating! It’s only natural that I think about you, right?”

“Enlighten me, Hijikata-kun. What kinds of things do you think about Gin-san? Do you think about my handsome face? Or maybe it’s my sexy body?”

“S-shut up! What kind of idiot would think about that?”

“Obviously, you do, so are you calling yourself an idiot, Hijikata-kun?”

“The only idiot here is you.”

“If I’m an idiot and you’re stupid enough to date me, then that still makes you an idiot.”

“Fine! Maybe I’m an idiot.”

“For being stupid enough to date me?”

“No,” he says, color rising to his cheeks once more. “For being stupid enough to love you.”

Gintoki smiles and cups Hijikata’s face with both hands, pulling him into a kiss. “Well, lucky for you, I may be an idiot, but at least I’m smart enough to love you back.”

* * *

Valentine’s Day has long passed and Hijikata is down to the last of the chocolates Gintoki had made for him, despite his valiant efforts to save them. On the other hand, he’s sure Gintoki had probably finished his own box of chocolates within one sitting.

A bit regretfully, he pops the last one into his mouth and lets himself savor the taste of how the mayo complements the bitterness of the dark chocolate perfectly. It is, after all, a universal condiment.

He thinks to himself that maybe Valentine’s Day isn’t so bad after all. In fact, glancing at the calendar on the corner of his desk, he thinks that he might even look forward to it next year.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed!! if you did, kudos and comments are always appreciated <3 i can be found on twt @shoutorchic if you would like to scream about ginhiji together!


End file.
